murdoc158

I've been chasing a similar problem for over a year now. I've got misfires on 1,2,3, but they move around from time to time. I've replaced the plugs, wires, coil pack, upstream O2 sensor, fuel filter, and air filter. I've cleaned the MAF sensor as well. Let me know what you find.

Thanks! I ordered the VSS (part # 85082AC012) today. Should be in by Monday. I will post back with results.

Just an update: I pulled two more codes today: P0500 and P1540. Any ideas? If it is one of the speed sensors (VSS correct?) which one is it? Edit: The cruise control is also inop.

5-speed manual. CEL has been on since I bought the car. Codes pulled for misfires across the board (P0301, P0302, P0303). I've replaced too many parts that I gave up chasing the cause of the misfire. Car runs fine otherwise.

I have a 1997 Legacy GT AWD 2.5L 5-speed manual (wagon). My speedo and odometer (analog) stopped working. It happened this morning as I was shifting from 1st to 2nd. There was no grinding, but the engagement of 2nd gear seemed a bit firmer than usual. The speedo dropped to 0, then bounced around for a while. It then came to rest at 0 and once in a while will move maybe 5-10MPH. Also in 4th or 5th gear at 4500RPM, it seems like I am hitting a rev-limiter. This is not present in 1st, 2nd, or 3rd gears. I crawled under the car todto take a look at things. The car does not have a speedo cable so that is out. Is it one of the speed sensors maybe? Any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Well I've done the same as you (minus the engine temp sensor), plus I have changed the fuel filter, and still no luck. I don't think I even realize the CEL is on any more. This sucks!

The US Silverstars are a waste of money. There have been many tests done, and short of a full HID conversion the Orsam Silverstars (not available in the USA) are the next brightest bulb. There is a lenghty BMW related article if you want to read it here. These bulbs are available on eBay from a seller named "pdburg" and are CHEAPER ($32.00 pair shipped) than US Silverstars. One of his listings is here. I've wet sanded my headlamps, installed the Silverstars (US) and saw a huge improvement. Always looking for better though, I tried the Orsam Silverstars and I was blown away. These headlights are very close to my BMW's lights. The beam pattern is horrid, but there is a lot more light on the road. Now if someone would come out with a "projector" style headlamp for the Legacy, things would be wonderful. Hope this helps!

Well the plugs, wires, coil, and O2 sensors have been replaced and the CEL is still on. Replacements were all OEM, no cheapo autozone stuff. The coil I pulled off looked fine, but went with a hunch. Hentai, keep us updated on the CEL status. If it gets cleared and stays out I will look into replacing the temp sensor. How much did this sensor run and do you still have the part number for it?

Most mini spares that I am aware of say no more than 50 miles at no more than 50mph.

I thought the turbo hit the steering rod. Either way the turbo relocating doesn't sound too bad. If I did it, I would end up with custom intercooler piping and a custom exhaust anyway as part of the swap. You could move the turbo just about anywhere. You could swap a 2.5T from a new Forester of Legacy in there too. It would be pricier, but lower milage and parts would easily be available. I know the new turbo Legacy puts out 250hp so thats a good start. Havn't heard if this is a straight swap or not though.

I did that as well to my headlights. I wet-sanded with 600, 1200, then 2000 grit sandpaper. Then polished with Meguires PlastiX. 200% improvement. I need to find some new foglights, as mine were broken in about 4 pieces.

I personally would recommend the EJ20TT motor. 2.0 liter twin turbo 250+hp. You can get them from sellers on ebay, or any auto importer should be able to hook you up. Make sure you get the motor, wiring harness, and ECU. If you currently have a manual transmission, any JDM engine will work as long as you have the JDM ECU from a manual donor. If you currently have an automatic, I would suggest getting a JDM auto trans as well, so the ECU doesn't freak out. Here's a link to the motor. Lot's cheaper than a turbo kit, and easier to SAFELY install. There are too many things to change out/replace when adding a turbo to a n/a motor.

Thanks, I will check both out. Here's my car, though the quality isn't great with this cell phone camera.

Would you mind sharing this link? I'm sorry, but a Haynes repair manual just doesn't have enough information in it when you are used to FSMs. Thanks!

I think it's just the cold here in WI. I had my temp gauge go all the way to cold on the way home Monday driving 80-85 on the expressway. The heat also went away, and started blowing cold air. I figured the electric fans were stuck on or something, so I cut up a piece of cardboard and slid it in between the radiator and AC condensor. I covered up about 1/3 of the radiator and haven't had the issue since then. It is possible to freeze the radiatior solid, so I guess I will have to check and replace the coolant mixture. I just picked up the car a few weeks ago, so I guess the mixture is off.

Both of my foglight housings are cracked and broken. I would like to replace them with something other than OEM. Since this is the GT model, the Hella 500's are out. I was leaning toward these but I would like the input of others that have replaced them. If possible, post a link to the product page with a price. Thanks, Jason

Just an update: I replaced the Champion spark plugs with some NGK Iridium plugs to no avail. I used a spray bottle at night to check the wires, and nothing there either. I ended up replacing the wires and upstream O2 sensor with OEM brand replacements. I reset the ECU and cleared the code out. Drove the car 90 miles since then and no CEL yet. Looks like it may be solved.

I used to work for Lexus and people would complain about this all the time too. Lexus sent us a kit that contained a half a velcro strip and a clear plastic film adhesive. The problem is the seatbelt gets gummed up near the top. We took the velcro strip and basically "sanded" the grime off the holder. Then you install the plastic film so the grime doesn't stick anymore. Long story short, get some 400 grit sandpaper, place it on the bottom side of the seatbelt, and allow the seatbelt to pull the sandpaper into the "holder" as it retracts. Then using two hands, run the sandpaper back and forth a few times to clean the plastic on the holder. This should help considerably and there really was no need for the plastic film.

The car sounds like its in really good shape. I would probably jump on it. My GT's engine has a mean growl above 3,000 RPM. I also was a little put-off by this the first time I drove it. I'm used to shifting closer to 4-5,000 RPM in my M3 or the wife's Copper S. The subwoofer sounds aftermarket. The factory subwoffer is a powered unit under the drivers seat. It makes you want to listen to music with a nice bassline thats for sure. My shifter shakes a bit to at idle and when driving. It is a top-loaded shifter, so this is not uncommon. As for the ABS is sounds normal, and I experienced the same thing last night driving in 4 inches of fresh snow. The ABS will activate if the speed sensors send back different speeds for each wheel. So if your not sliding, all the wheels should be at the same speed. My guess is you started sliding, caught traction, lost traction, and regained traction again. Most, if not all newer Subarus have that "orange peel" on the rocker panels. I believe it acts as a chip guard, but I could be wrong. I've noticed the same "orange peel" on alot of newer cars, not just Subarus.

I just bought a 97 Legacy GT wagon M/T in Chicago a few weeks ago. I paid $3450 (USD). It has 143K miles, leather, CD, premium sound, keyless entry w/ alarm, AWD, black exterior with gray interior. The body looks pretty good. It was parked on the streets of Chicago it's entire life so it has some bumper scrapes and it looks like a few holes in the fender from a BB gun. I will be filling the holes in soon to prevent any rust. The car has a CEL on, for misfires in clyanders #1,2,3. I changed out the plugs and it didn't solve anything. I'm waiting on an O2 sensor and plug wires from the dealer. I checked the bluebook value and it was between $4300-$5400 in my condition, so I feel I got a nice deal on it. As far as problems, just the headgasket is the main culprit. From my understanding, if you use the most recent headgasket from Subaru, it will cure the problem. Pop the coolant overflow cap while the car is still cold and check for exhaust or gas smell in the coolant. Also, bubbles in the coolant could point to HG failure as well. I talked to the dealer about this car and had him check the service history before I bought it. He said other than the headgasket (which was done on my car) he said the catalytic converter was the only "major" problem. If you don't have emissions or a smog test you can pretty much forget about this. Dealer told me 100,000 miles on the timing belt before changes. I must say I knew nothing about Subaru H-4 motors before I bought my car. I have lots of experience with Japanese 4 cylander motors though, and once I actully looked the motor over, it is quite a simple design. The bottom of the motor has the exhaust, and will not require much work underneath. The top has the intake manifold, and looks fairly easy to pull off. There are not too many vacuum lines, or wiring to clutter things up. I've heard a headgasket job can be done with the motor still in the car. I think it may require you to jack the motor up just a bit though. I would recommend some kind of repair manual (Haynes, Chilton, eBay dealership CD-ROM), if you are going to attempt anything major like this. It looks pretty easy and straight forward to get the heads off, but putting them back on, with the timing belt and tensioners, can lead to problems if you don't have specific instructions. Plugs were a breeze with the correct tool setup, and were done in about 15 minutes. Anyone else feel free to chime in if I have said something wrong, or if I missed anything. I hope this helps and let us know how the car checks out.

Thanks, I kinda figured that 1 and 3 were on the same side. I noticed the CEL flashing today, so I rescanned the codes. Now I have misfire on 1 and 2, but nothing on #3. Odd.... I picked up a set of NGK Iridium plugs this weekend. I havn't put them in yet, but hopefully this will help. There are Champion plugs in there right now. If I don't notice any change I might do O2 sensors (I think they are still original 143,000 miles old). I've included a couple of pics. Can anyone tell me if the coils look original or aftermarket? And what about this bolt? It's threaded into an adjuster, but it keeps backing out? Something looks like it's missing, but I have no idea what.

Hey I just picked up my first Subaru yesterday. I got a 1997 Legacy GT 2.5 Wagon 5-speed black/gray. I also had a check engine light on. I pulled the codes and also got P0301 and P0303 for misfires in cylanders 1 and 3. Having no previous Subaru experiece I wasn't sure where to start. First off, how does Subaru number the cylanders? I know #1 is the left front, and #4 is the right rear. Those were the only plug wires that had numbers on them. I need to know if #3 is the left rear or right front. Depending on that information, I figured that if #3 was the right front, it would be coil related, since #1 and #3 fire from the same coil. If #3 was the left rear, I figured maybe the O2 sensor for that side of the engine. Also where is the ECU temp sensor that was mentioned previously? I know my way around an engine, and have rebuilt many Japanese motors, but I know very little about the Subaru motor. Thanks in advance -Jason